Effect of induction chemotherapy on swallow physiology and saliva production in patients with head and neck cancer: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: No objective data are available to assess the potential damage induction chemotherapy alone contributes to swallowing physiology and salivary production in patients with locally and regionally confined head and neck cancer. METHODS: Thirteen patients with head and neck cancer were evaluated preinduction and postinduction chemotherapy. Assessment included: (1) percentage of nutrition taken orally and food consistencies in diet; (2) videofluorographic swallow evaluation; (3) whole mouth saliva collection; (4) quality-of-life questionnaire; and (5) pain and oral mucositis scores. RESULTS: All patients were able to consume most foods and took 100% of their nutrition orally both preinduction and postinduction chemotherapy. Although a number of swallow measures worsened, no statistically significant differences were observed in diet, quality of life measures, pain, or saliva weight, or in most temporal swallow measures. Pharyngeal residue decreased significantly after chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Induction chemotherapy alone did not significantly negatively alter swallowing physiology and salivary secretion, although the trend was toward worsening in function.

Comparison of swallowing function after intensity-modulated radiation therapy and conventional radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is hoped to protect structures important for swallow function. We compared posttreatment swallow function in 7 pairs of patients with head and neck cancer treated with either IMRT or conventional radiotherapy (RT). METHODS: Patients were matched on tumor characteristics. Swallowing function was evaluated with the modified barium swallow procedure pretreatment and at 3 and 6 months postcancer treatment completion. Swallows were analyzed for bolus transit times, bolus residues, laryngeal closure (LAC) duration, cricopharyngeal opening (CPO) duration, and oropharyngeal swallow efficiency (OPSE). Data were analyzed using multifactor repeated measures analysis of variance and adjusted for baseline function. RESULTS: Main effect of radiation type was significant for all measures on at least 1 bolus type. Patients treated with IMRT demonstrated shorter bolus transit times, less oral and pharyngeal residue, longer LAC, and larger OPSE. CONCLUSION: Patients treated with IMRT demonstrated faster, more efficient swallows, and greater airway protection.

Critical Factors in the Oral Control Needed for Chewing and Swallowing.

Normal oropharyngeal swallowing is a complex set of neuromotor behaviors containing three phases: 1) Oral preparation to break food down to a swallowable consistency; 2) Oral phase which propels food from the mouth; 3) Pharyngeal phase creates pressure to push food into the esophagus, and includes valve functions which prevent food from entering the nose or airway and allow food into the esophagus. Systematic changes in normal oropharyngeal swallow are based on volume, viscosity, and taste of the food swallowed as well as age. Patients with oropharyngeal swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) react differently to these systematic variables in food characteristics. This review manuscript presents the results of a series of studies that examine the role of each of the stages of the nonoral orpharyngeal swallow. The importance of the definition of food viscosity in the care of dysphagic patients and the role of food production companies in this effort are emphasized.

Effects of enhanced bolus flavors on oropharyngeal swallow in patients treated for head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Treatment for head and neck cancer can reduce peripheral sensory input and impair oropharyngeal swallow. This study examined the effect of enhanced bolus flavor on liquid swallows in these patients. METHODS: Fifty-one patients treated for head and neck cancer with chemoradiation or surgery and 64 healthy adult control subjects served as subjects. All were randomized to receive sour, sweet, or salty bolus flavor. Patients were evaluated at 7-10 days, 1 month, and 3 months after completion of tumor treatment. Control subjects received 1 assessment. RESULTS: All bolus flavors affected oropharyngeal swallow; sour flavor significantly shortened pharyngeal transit time across all evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: Sour flavor influenced the swallow of patients treated for head and neck cancer, as well as that of control subjects in a manner similar to those with neurologic impairment observed in an earlier study. Sour flavor may improve the speed of pharyngeal transit regardless of whether a patient has suffered peripheral or central sensory damage.

Manofluorography in the evaluation of oropharyngeal dysphagia.

Manofluorography, that is, the concurrent use of manometry and videofluorography for the evaluation of pharyngeal dysphagia, has not been widely used clinically, partially because of various limitations of conventional manometry. Technological advancements in recent years have led to substantial improvements in manometric devises, which can now overcome many of the shortcomings of standard manometry. In parallel with this, studies examining the utility of high-resolution manometry for the evaluation of pharyngeal disorders of swallowing have begun to emerge. This review summarizes the technological developments in manometry and the existing literature on pharyngeal high-resolution manofluorography with pressure topography. The article also discusses the potential clinical value of high-resolution pharyngeal-esophageal pressure topography and suggests directions for future investigations. Studies conducted so far have shown heterogeneous approaches to utilizing high-resolution manofluorography. These studies have revealed important information regarding its diagnostic potential and researchers have devised innovative methods of measurements. However, substantial research is required to transform manofluorography into a clinically useful tool. There is a need to conduct validation studies, correlating manometric measures with structural changes in the swallow seen on videofluorography and devise diagnostic methods that utilize the advantages of both tools. Furthermore, studies comparing healthy and clinical populations are needed to identify measures most clinically significant in order to develop diagnostic paradigms.

Relation of mucous membrane alterations to oral intake during the first year after treatment for head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Acute oral mucositis is associated with pain and impaired swallowing. Little information is available on the effects of chronic mucositis on swallowing. METHODS: Sixty patients treated for cancer of the head and neck were examined during the first year after their cancer treatment. Oral mucosa was rated with the Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale. Stimulated whole-mouth saliva, oral pain rating, percent of oral intake, and 2 subscales of the Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck (PSS-HN) cancer were also collected. RESULTS: Mucositis scores and pain ratings decreased over time while functional measures of eating improved over time. Reduction in chronic mucositis was correlated with improved oral intake and diet. CONCLUSION: Lack of association with pain was attributed to the absence of ulcerations. Continued impairment of oral intake during the first year posttreatment may be related to oral mucosal changes and other factors.

A computational tool for the efficient analysis of dose-volume histograms from radiation therapy treatment plans.

A Histogram Analysis in Radiation Therapy (HART) program was primarily developed to increase the efficiency and accuracy of dose-volume histogram (DVH) analysis of large quantities of patient data in radiation therapy research. The program was written in MATLAB to analyze patient plans exported from the treatment planning system (Pinnacle 3 ) in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (AAPM/RTOG) format. HART-computed DVH data was validated against manually extracted data from the planning system for five head and neck cancer patients treated with the intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) technique. HART calculated over 4000 parameters from the differential DVH (dDVH) curves for each patient in approximately 10-15 minutes. Manual extraction of this amount of data required 5 to 6 hours. The normalized root mean square deviation (NRMSD) for the HART-extracted DVH outcomes was less than 1%, or within 0.5% distance-to-agreement (DTA). This tool is supported with various user-friendly options and graphical displays. Additional features include optimal polynomial modeling of DVH curves for organs, treatment plan indices (TPI) evaluation, plan-specific outcome analysis (POA), and spatial DVH (zDVH) and dose surface histogram (DSH) analyses, respectively. HART is freely available to the radiation oncology community.

Relationship between manometric and videofluoroscopic measures of swallow function in healthy adults and patients treated for head and neck cancer with various modalities.

Pharyngeal manometry complements the modified barium swallow with videofluoroscopy (VFS) in diagnosing pressure-related causes of dysphagia. When manometric analysis is not feasible, it would be ideal if pressure information about the swallow could be inferred accurately from the VFS evaluation. Swallowing function was examined using VFS and concurrent manometry in 18 subjects (11 head and neck patients treated with various modalities and 7 healthy adults). Nonparametric univariate and multivariate analyses revealed significant relationships between manometric and fluoroscopic variables. Increases in pressure wave amplitude were significantly correlated with increased duration of tongue base to pharyngeal wall contact, reduced bolus transit times, and oropharyngeal residue. Pharyngeal residue was the most important VFS variable in reflecting pharyngeal pressure measurements. Certain VFS measures were significantly correlated with measures of pressure assessed with manometry. Further research is needed before observations and measures from VFS alone may be deemed sufficient for determining pressure-generation difficulties during the swallow in patients who are unable or unwilling to submit to manometric testing.

Relationship between swallow motility disorders on videofluorography and oral intake in patients treated for head and neck cancer with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Current research demonstrates that swallow function is impaired after treatment with organ-sparing chemoradiotherapy. Few studies, however, have related observed swallowing disorders with the patient's oral intake and diet in a large cohort of patients. METHODS: Swallowing function was examined using the modified barium swallow (MBS) procedure in 170 patients treated with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy for cancer of the head and neck at 5 evaluation points: pretreatment and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months posttreatment. Fisher's exact test was used to examine the relationship between swallow motility disorders and oral intake or diet consistencies. RESULTS: Limitations in oral intake and diet during the first year after cancer treatment were significantly related to reduced laryngeal elevation, reduced cricopharyngeal opening, and rating of nonfunctional swallow on at least 1 swallow of any bolus type. CONCLUSIONS: Swallow motility disorders had a significant impact on the eating ability of patients after treatment for head and neck cancer with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy.

Surgical variables affecting swallowing in patients treated for oral/oropharyngeal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative swallowing function may be influenced by a number of treatment variables; this study examines the relationship of various treatment factors to measures of swallow function. METHODS: Swallowing was examined with the modified barium swallow procedure in 144 patients surgically treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer 3 months after healing. Univariate and multivariate correlations were used to examine the relationship between swallowing function and treatment. RESULTS: Percent tongue base resected and total volume resected were most often correlated with swallowing function in the univariate analyses. Multivariate analyses identified the following combinations with the strongest correlations: (1) percent tongue base resected and closure type for liquids; (2) percent tongue base resected and unreconstructed mandible for pastes; (3) total volume resected, percent lateral floor of mouth resected, and postoperative radiotherapy dose for masticated boluses. CONCLUSIONS: Total volume resected and percent tongue base resected had a profound impact on postoperative swallowing function. Combinations of percent tongue base resected with other surgical variables had the strongest relationships with overall swallowing function.

Prioritizing treatment outcomes: head and neck cancer patients versus nonpatients.

BACKGROUND: Treatment decisions in head and neck cancer (HNC) might involve consideration of uncertain tradeoffs of one late effect against another or increasing toxicity or residual impairment for increased chance of survival. Understanding how patients prioritize potential outcomes, as well as whether these preferences are similar to those of nonpatients, is important to informed decision making and treatment planning. METHODS: Two hundred forty-seven newly diagnosed HNC patients from nine institutions and 131 nonpatients rank ordered a set of 12 potential treatment outcomes (eg, cure; being able to swallow; normal voice) from highest (1) to lowest (12). RESULTS: Patients and nonpatients were similar with respect to the three items most frequently ranked in the top three, that is, "being cured of cancer," "living as long as possible," and "having no pain" in that order. In contrast, patients more frequently ranked "cure" (90% vs 80%) and less frequently ranked "no pain" (34% vs 52%) in the top three. CONCLUSIONS: Survival seems to be of paramount importance to both patient and nonpatient groups, overshadowing associated toxicities and potential dysfunction. At the same time, patients might be more willing than nonpatients to undergo aggressive treatments and endure acute distress in the interest of potential long-term gains (ie, cure or longer survival).

Swallow function and perception of dysphagia in patients with head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between subjective complaints of dysphagia and objective measures of swallow function in patients with cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, or larynx, treated with radiotherapy +/- chemotherapy has not been well documented in the literature. METHODS: Swallowing function in 132 patients with various lesions was evaluated using videofluoroscopy and analyzed by patient complaint of dysphagia grouping. RESULTS: Patients with complaints of dysphagia demonstrated significantly worse swallow function as indicated by lower oropharyngeal swallow efficiency (OPSE), longer transit times, larger residues, and more swallows with aspiration. Patients with complaints of dysphagia also tended to take less of their nutrition by mouth and less variety of food consistencies in their diet compared with those without complaint. CONCLUSIONS: Patients were able to perceive decrements in their swallowing function as dysphagia and may have limited their oral intake in response to that perception. The ability to accurately perceive swallowing function may be useful for self-monitoring changes in dysphagia status during a course of swallow therapy.